The Stolen Queen, the newest historical fiction novel by New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, publishes today, January 7, and is set in the hallowed halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When the Met’s prized Egyptian artifact goes missing, an unlikely female duo—curator and anthropologist Charlotte Cross and eighteen-year-old Annie Jenkins from the Met’s costume department—team up to investigate the theft, unraveling decades-old secrets, particularly in Charlotte’s own past. Charlotte is an enigmatic figure, and Annie is a peppy, indefatigable young woman at the beginning of her career. Fiona Davis describes The Stolen Queen as "mummies and glamour."
Here at Untapped New York, we're kicking off 2025 with a new podcast episode featuring Fiona in conversation with our founder, Michelle Young whose own narrative non-fiction book The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Spy Rose Valland publishes in May. We love Fiona’s books because they are so rooted in New York City history. Each book delves into one iconic New York City location, taking real-life events and historical tidbits as jumping-off points. Her page-turning books often involve two simultaneous storylines set in different time periods.
Fiona worked as a journalist and has a master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School, and you can really tell in the accuracy of the details in her books. Even long-time New Yorkers will be impressed. In the latest episode of the Untapped New York Podcast, Fiona and Michelle talk about secret spots in the Met Museum, what it's like to write and research a historical fiction book, the real-life stories, artworks, and locations that inspired Fiona Davis in The Stolen Queen and her other books, the unlikely tie between Michelle's forthcoming book and The Stolen Queen, as well as books by authors they love, like Patrick Bringley's All the Beauty in the World, and Lynne Olson's Empress of the Nile.
Listen to more of The Untapped New York Podcast below!
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